Lesson learned: never leave a manuscript you’re working on unattended. I came back to my computer to find my son had finished my sentence for me: “And then her head blew up.”

I guess it’s better than some of the “sentence-finishers” my husband has left me when I’ve left my computer open.

I promised to review a book a while back and then never got around to writing the review so I am doing that today (since I am now done with taxes, wrote 3300 new words in my work in progress, and the kids are in school–and yes, I am putting off preparations for the class I’m teaching at the writer’s conference in two weeks).

Karen Hoover is one of my very dear friends. She is my favorite roommate for the LTUE science fiction and fantasy symposium. She puts up with my whining, my snarky attitude, and the fact that I snore. Seriously. She is a true friend. When I first met Karen, it was at a storymaker writing conference. James Dashner invited her to dinner with us and things just grew from there. After that dinner, she went home and wrote a poem called the poser because she felt so out of place at a table full of published authors. I told her she was wrong. She is not a poser. She was working on her writing and she’d be published soon enough.

And now she is.

And I couldn’t be more proud of her. Karen is such a humble, good person. She makes me a better person when I am with her. I am grateful for every twist of fate that put her in my path and allowed her to like me. And so it is with honor and excitement that I get to review her book, The Sapphire Flute

The Sapphire Flute

It has been 3,000 years since a white mage has been seen upon Rasann.

In the midst of a volcanic eruption miles outside of her village, Ember discovers she can see magic and change the appearance of things at will. Against her mother’s wishes, she leaves for the mage trials only to be kidnapped before arriving. In trying to escape, she discovers she has inherited her father’s secret–a secret that places her in direct conflict with her father’s greatest enemy.

At the same time, Kayla is given guardianship of the sapphire flute and told not to play it. The evil mage C’Tan has been searching for it for decades and the sound alone is enough to call her. For the flute to be truly safe, Kayla must find its birthplace in the mountains high above Javak. The girls’ paths are set on a collision course…a course that C’Tan is determined to prevent at all costs.

Ember, Kayla, and C’Tan are all strong female leads who carry a very character driven story. The magic system is brilliant and something I never would have thought up, so now I have magic system envy. And the action is strong enough to pull along the reluctant reader. When I first read this book, Mr.Wright asked what I was reading. I told him and then he asked, “Is it any good?”

“Of course, it’s good, or I wouldn’t be reading it.”

“You’re just saying that because she’s your friend and you love her,” he said.

“No. I’m saying it because it’s true.” At this point I’m ready to throw a boot at Mr. Wright’s head.

“Prove it. Read me the first page and if, when you get to the end, I want you to turn the page and read more, then we can safely say it’s a good book.”

So I read the first page and stopped.

“Hey!” He became indignant. “Why are you stopping?”

“The first page is over.”

Then a little sheepishly, because he was so caught up in the story that he’d already forgotten our deal, he said, “Fine. Turn the page.”

What a wonderful surprise to find this today! Thank you, Julie, for accepting me when I felt like a poser and kicking my butt when I expressed it. Thank you for always making me feel like it was only matter of time and believe in me when I forgot to believe in myself.

And thank you for the rockin’ awesome review! I love that story about the Mister. lol

OH! And thanks a TON for the endorsement on the back of my book! Nobody told me it was going to be there, so on launch day I’d been signing books for about an hour when I turned it over and lo and behold, there was my good friend Julie, saying how awesome my book was. It totally made my night. (((hugs)))

This is exactly how I feel about Karen too. She does make me a better person. She’s delightful to be around and the truest kind of friend. I’m constantly surprised by how our friendship isn’t just good, it gets better every time I talk to her. I love her dearly. But none of that–truly–has any reflection on how I feel about her book. And if you liked this one, just wait until the next one! She’s truly surpassed herself. Watch out, world!

I still haven’t read this – I need to. But I’m here to talk about your book. I just finished Eyes Like Mine – I loved it!!! Another winner Julie. You won my devotion with My Not So Fairytale Life and you continue to feed it with this book.